Teens And Money: Teaching Teens That Coupons Are Cool
My sleepy eyed, bed headed teenage boy emerged from his room at 11:30am Saturday morning informing us that his friends were coming over at about noon to hang out. He declined my offer to make him lunch before his friends showed up, explaining that they were going to order pizza.
The next day, I noticed that he had a pending transaction to his checking account from Domino’s Pizza for $28. Remembering that there had been been two empty pizza boxes sitting on the kitchen counter I knew that he could have saved some money if only he had known about the coupon drawer.
He had ordered two pizzas and a side order of parmesan bites. I told him to follow me into the kitchen. I opened a drawer next to the refrigerator and pulled out a coupon sheet that we had recieved in the mail. One of the coupons offered 2 medium pizzas and an order of parmesan bites for $16.99. After tax and the delivery charge was added, their total would have likely been close to $20.
The coupon would have saved him $8.
I told him there was another way he could have saved money if he didn’t want to dig through the coupon drawer in front of his friends. I brought up the Domino’s site online, and clicked on the Coupons tab. Listed right there on the website (which is how they ordered the pizza) was the exact same coupon. All he had to do was click the “add coupon” button and he would have saved $8.
I summarized what he should do each time he orders pizza, or even goes out to eat with his friends:
- Check The Coupon Drawer : My wife and I put into the coupon drawer any coupons we received in the mail, on sales receipts, or as emails. If we’re around, he can ask one of us if we think we have a coupon for where ever he’s going.
- Check The Website : Most retail and restaurant websites have a Coupons or Deals tab. Always click on it and check to see if there’s a coupon code that can be used to save money.
Many teenagers don’t use coupons because either they think it’s uncool, or they’ve simply never been taught to use them. I want to make sure my teenager knows where to look for them, how to use them, and illustrate how much he can save. Maybe by doing so, he won’t think they seem uncool and use them whenever possible.
Do you have a teenage child? Have you taught them to use coupons? Did you use coupons as a teenager?
Brought to you courtesy of Brock
Brock is a software engineer by day and personal finance blogger at night. He is a fitness junkie and enjoys grilling and smoking meat. Married with two children, Brock strives to improve his skills as a husband and father, and is always on the lookout to stretch his family’s budget as far as he can.
Nope, no teenagers here. But if we get a kid in our lives, we’ll definitely teach the sucker to check online coupons before making a purchase.
Nice story, and I’ll have to remember your method when our kiddo gets old enough to order stuff online. I know a few adults that need to apply that lesson as well.
I find the teens easier to teach than the husband
The younger you start sending the message, the more time it has to sink in. They may not think using coupons is cool, but it’s certainly cool to have more money left over for other things they want. Hope your son makes good use of your lesson in the future!
You’ll have one super savvy teen if he does pick up on your money lessons. Good luck! I know it would’ve been a struggle to get me to use coupons when I was a teen because I was an idiot who didn’t fully appreciate the value of saving $8 on my pizza.
My kids love coupons because it makes their allowances go father. The more they are in charge of purchasing the more they like coupons. Please consider linking up to my Frugal Friday Link up.
@Abigail – we need to teach some adults as well. 🙂
@Emily – LOL I just made that same comment. The neat thing is that he had his friends over again over the weekend…..he used a coupon code and saved him and his friends some cash! Thanks for reading!
@RAnn – something about old dogs and new tricks perhaps? LOL we can ALL learn to use coupons!
@Gary – Using coupons may not seem cool at first…..but nothing is cooler than having more cash in your wallet!
@Mel – I didn’t use coupons a lot when I was a teen, but I do remember using coupons for free breadsticks at Pizza Hut. Once you do it once, saving money becomes addictive, no matter what the age!
@Kyle – “it makes their allowance go further” <--- awesome! I'll check out your Friday posts!